Blackman's children Rebecca, 2, Harris, 5 play on an iPad in Parliament with Alison Thewliss' daughter Kirsty

The SNP MP for Aberdeen North said her hand was forced as Scottish schools and nurseries break up three weeks before summer recess and her husband Luke was not available to take charge.

The nursery in parliament will only accept children if they are enrolled for a minimum of six weeks, leaving many MPs in a childcare crisis.

The mother-of-two was forced to take her children into the lobby for an unexpected vote, and received a caution from clerks when she later dragged her children to a select committee on English Votes for English laws.

The children sat drawing pictures and playing with their Ipad, but Blackman said that “things went a bit wrong” when her two-year-old-daughter began to fall asleep.

Blackman picked up her daughter to put her on her lap, but was told by Parliamentary clerks that her daughter was not allowed to sit at the table, meaning that Blackman had to leave the select committee table and sit elsewhere in the room.

“I’m not angry at the staff, they were merely following the rules, but really? It was a public meeting. The issue, technically speaking, was having her at the table,” she said.

Calling for a review of the rules, she said the “system is nonsensical and overdue for reform” adding “Parliament needs to be accessible for people who are not just white, male, middle class and middle-aged”.

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Speaker John Bercow commissioned a report into sexism in parliament which recommends a full-time creche alongside the nursery where MPs can drop their kids off on an ad hoc basis.

A cross-party panel will discuss the changes in September.

A world ranking of female MPs shows that Britain is in 48th place, below Ethiopia, Bolivia and Serbia.

But Mrs Blackman did say she enjoyed her time in Parliament with her children managing to grab an ice-cream with her tots on the parliament terrace.

“It was absolutely knackering” she said, “but I loved spending so much time with my small people. It’s brought into sharp focus how much I miss during weeks I don’t take them with me. They have such great chat and remind me to lighten up occasionally.”